


Impressionable Bots

by Merfilly



Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Charity Auctions, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Mentors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-13
Updated: 2011-07-13
Packaged: 2017-10-21 08:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/223061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skyfire took the time to care, and now he reaps the results of that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Impressionable Bots

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hellkitty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellkitty/gifts).



> _Written for[hellkitty](http://hellkitty.dreamwidth.org/profile)'s donation at the helpthesouth charity drive._

Skyfire wasn't certain what to make of the Aerialbots at first. They also didn't seem to know what to make of him, but in time, they worked things out. Skyfire told them the lore and history of the Seekers, Transports, Shuttles, and Rotors in exchange for their company and occasional assistance in grooming. After all, Skyfire had entirely too much frame and wing to manage that task solely on his own.

Over time, it grew to be something of a ritual, and Skyfire was not adverse to aiding the Aerialbots in understanding themselves. He had never wanted to mentor a group of young mechs, but who else was there to tend to these?

Only, Skyfire had failed to understand just what his interactions with them meant to them in the long run.

Then came the day Megatron nearly obliterated Skyfire from existence with an entirely too lucky shot.

`~`~`~`~`

Skyfire onlined his optics, but could not see much past the readings on all of his systems being at minimal operating levels. He could not move though that, he determined via his sensors, had far more to do with the weight surrounding him than his systems.

Slingshot was propping up his right side, with assistance from Air Raid, apparently to allow the wing to remain up off the berth for future repairs. Fireflight was wedged between the left wing and his arm, keeping that up for repairs on the damaged elbow joint. His left pede was in Skydive's lap, the ankle controls still open from soldering repairs.

His helm, he discovered, was resting in Silverbolt's lap.

::Would it not have been more efficient to rig slings to support me for Ratchet and First Aid?:: Skyfire inquired, over a comm to the leader, as it seemed all of his friends but Silverbolt were actually in recharge as they performed their roles of support.

::You have no trine, no partner, no rookery to watch over you,:: Silverbolt commed back, voice thick with worry. ::You needed us here. We wanted to be here. All of us.::

::Even Slingshot?::

::One of the first to suggest it," Silverbolt told him firmly.

::I do not understand.:: Skyfire did not see why anyone, especially the headstrong and boastful Aerialbot would suggest nurse-maiding him in such a fashion.

::You have no flight wing!:: Silverbolt sounded almost panicky over that. ::We... It might have been presumption on our part, but we stepped in.::

::Stepped in?:: Confusion flooded the band with static, and Skyfire searched for his full memory core, to see what had transpired that had necessitated such repairs.

He had been dogfighting with a trine of Seekers he did not know personally. And then there had been surges in every system, before his memory failed.

::We almost lost you,:: Silverbolt said, soberly and with that fear still edging the patterns of his transmissions. ::Your processor was shutting down, your energies cycled down, and there was just this black void folding in around your presence in the comms.::

Skyfire's optics dimmed slightly, hearing that. He did not want to admit that existence was not his preferred state of being.

Silverbolt petted his helm anyway, and was almost crooning careful, tender wavelengths with his fields along Skyfire's mostly unshielded frame.

::We need you. Want you for ours. It's maybe the first thing personal we've ever agreed on.::

Skyfire had no reply for that, at too much of a loss to hear someone wanted him, and to feel it was strictly for being himself.

::That's why we all stepped in, and linked with you. To keep you with us,:: Silverbolt finished, before letting Skyfire turn inward with an instinctive understanding that this was overwhelming his mentor.

`~`~`~`~`

Even once slings were rigged for Skyfire, it was clear that the only way that the Aerialbots were going to ever let him be alone during the repair process was if Optimus requested Superion for a battle. And that became so much a rarity that Skyfire had to wonder if there was a conspiracy afoot.

He felt awkward, not just because so many internal systems were more damaged than his frame had been. A lot of his unease came from the way the Aerialbots treated him. Skydive discussed theory and the more scientific aspects of flight with him. Silverbolt asked opinions on how to handle the intra-team dynamics. Slingshot regaled him with tales of valor that verged on mythic. Air Raid brought him holographic portraits of things and places he had seen, asking about them. And Fireflight tended to just come and check on his external repairs, buffing or polishing the metal as the nanites finished their work on the structural integrity.

Skyfire felt spoiled and that was something he neither knew how to deal with nor how to dissuade politely. Nor could he ask for help; First Aid melted visibly with joy at the sight of them pampering the shuttle, and Ratchet only chased most of them out when he had to fine tune some of the repairs. He preferred that it be one of the quieter ones who stayed, but he never made them all go away at once.

Once he was repaired, he would deal with it. After all, what harm was there in letting the young mechs choose to help in his recovery? It would only be rude to send them away and tell them 'no'.

`~`~`~`~`

"Alright, Skyfire. Just because I am releasing you to light duty doesn't mean you need to be doing any barrel rolls," Ratchet informed him. Silverbolt and Slingshot both were waiting in the background.

"Don't worry, my friend. I'm not quite feeling up to anything more than resuming my experiments," Skyfire promised him. Ratchet grunted, then turned to go back to his office, having a new aid manual to finish uploading for dissemination to more distant Autobot outposts.

Slingshot pushed forward and reached out to lay a hand on the much larger shuttle's arm. "Hey, we got a surprise for you, Big Guy." He grinned, sort of lopsided, and Skyfire didn't have the will to break that smile, not when Slingshot was often the most touchy of them all.

"You're going to love this, Sky," Silverbolt promised him.

"Just hush and let me show it off!" Slingshot growled at his leader, but there was a slight hint of the grumbling being more habit than animosity.

They led him outside of the Ark, and then took to the air, which Skyfire was more than willing to do. Following their lead, and also to test his repairs, Skyfire transformed and let them lead him.

They did not go far, just to a nearby plateau that had been... transformed. The broad, flat space was still perfect for landing upon, but tucked inside, carved out of the face of the mountain along the fourth side of the escarpment, was a huge cavern big enough to allow Skyfire to walk in without stooping. This cavern, for Slingshot led Skyfire into it, was partitioned into recharge berth-chambers, a laboratory, a common aerie for resting and grooming together, and a mechanical bay.

"Like it?" Slingshot demanded, optics turned solely for the look on Skyfire's faceplates.

"It's wonderful," Skyfire said, overwhelmed as he understood that this was for him, for them, a shared residence and work area. He looked at Slingshot, then to Silverbolt, as his audials picked up the approach of three more engines. "But I do not understand."

"Told you that we agreed we want you to be part of our flight," Silverbolt reminded him. "Can't be a flight without a nest, now can we?"

The other three Aerialbots came inside, ranging out in front of Skyfire. Silverbolt looked quietly hopeful while Slingshot had a growing suspicious look, one that said he had only just realized maybe Skyfire didn't want them. Air Raid kept looking around at the cavern, taking in the finishing touches apparently. Fireflight grinned at him, daring him to say 'no' it felt like, while Skydive watched with calm consideration.

"Tell me why," Skyfire coaxed. "I'm not refusing, but I truly do not understand."

Now, it was Skydive's part to answer, as he came closest to speaking the cold logic best. "Skyfire, you are one of the few other fliers in the entire Autobot cause. And of those, you actually took an interest in helping us know the heritage we did not have in our processors. Now, this is not just gratitude. Whether you knew what you were doing or not, we more or less imprinted on you. This, sharing our flight with you, is as much because you made us yours in that manner as because in doing so, we realized you lacked something too."

"You don't have to be alone anymore, Sky," Silverbolt told him, quietly. "And not a one of us will ever judge you for the pull you feel, because you made sure we understood all the fliers. What you have with Starscream? Is not up for discussion, debate, or denial. It simply is, and we all accept that."

"It's not like we don't have practice dealing with not really liking the choices our mates make," Slingshot said with a snort, mock-glaring at Silverbolt.

Skyfire had to inspect each one of their faces, and he saw resolute acceptance in all of them, so long as he wished to be with them. "It's going to take me time," he warned. "I was only ever part of a duo."

"That's okay; we only know how to be a quint." Air Raid grinned brightly. "So, who's all for the pads in the rest-nest?"

Fireflight laughed, and was the first one there, but when everyone had settled, it was Skyfire in the center, and five very happy, engine-rumbling, field-caressing Aerialbots surrounding him.

It might take getting used to, but the way they pressed in, making him so aware that he was not alone, was worth making the effort.


End file.
